Mount Cook Heli-Hike

Jason Dundas loves the outdoors wherever he is, and New Zealand’s Mt Cook, just 3 hours from Queenstown, raised his pleasure a notch or two.

Jason Dundas loves the outdoors wherever he is, and New Zealand’s Mt Cook, just 3 hours from Queenstown, raised his pleasure a notch or two.

Mt Cook is 3,754 metres tall and has presented a challenge to many mountaineers, including Sir Edmund Hillary.

Jason visited Mt Cook National Park on New Zealand’s south island for his latest adventure which began with a helicopter flight taking him 1,200 metres above sea level to Tasman Glacier, the country’s largest glacier.

Jason met his guide Tex at the base and they spent around 30 minutes putting on the supplied gear – everything from socks, boots, gloves and hats. They chatted about the trip to come as well as having a helicopter safety briefing.

By the way, Tex actually is from Texas. After studying in Australia he crossed The Pond to New Zealand for a visit and hasn’t left. That was over ten years ago and he can talk about the glacier non-stop. He is very experienced and extremely passionate.

Jason and Tex were dropped off for a couple of hours of walking and exploring New Zealand’s Mt Cook, known in the Maori language as Aoraki and steeped in Maori history and legend.

Wearing ice spikes on their feet, known as crampons and designed for glacier conditions, it was time to follow Tex as he used skills handed down from New Zealand’s mountain pioneers. The crampons bite into the ice as you trek on the gentle, undulating terrain of the highest peak in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

The glacier crawls slowly down the side of Mt Cook. Made of such dense ice, glaciers move under their own weight. Tex told Jason that with the constant movement no one knows what to expect and that makes the experience even more enjoyable. Each climb is unique.

Jason found it hard to describe the feeling of vastness once they landed on the glacier. It’s an impressive 4 kilometres wide and 27 kilometres long, and as he was just one of five people there at the time it was quite surreal. The landscape of fluted ice,
runnels, moulins and sinuous winding streamlets is something to behold.

The return flight gave a different perspective from the first flight. After having walked on the crisp, white glacier below, it somehow took on a whole new familiarity. It was as though it had become a new friend.

Location
New Zealand’s Mt Cook, 3 hours from Queenstown.

Cost
The Adventurer Tasman Glacier Heli Hike is $518 per person. It includes two scenic flights, guide and snow gear. The hike season runs between September & May.